Myers Park Trinity Challenge Baseball

Challenge Program Vision Statement

Myers Park Trinity, through volunteer commitment and community spirit, will provide and perpetuate the highest level of Challenge baseball for the youth and families participating in our League, without sacrificing the benefits, traditions and long term success of our regular season program. A summary of the challenge program is listed below.

Purpose

The Challenge Program is designed for those athletes who, in addition to participating in the League’s regular spring and fall seasons, want to experience extra baseball in a more competitive “tournament” environment. The Challenge Program addresses the needs of those athletes who possess above average baseball skill, and provides an opportunity for them to play baseball at the highest level for their age group, while maintaining the experience of playing for a regular season Championship, all without paying the same level of fees typically associated with travel or academy baseball.

Who Participates

Myers Park Trinity's Challenge experience is available for baseball players, ages 8-12 who participate in the League’s regular season baseball program. There are two formal Challenge seasons, the spring and the fall. The spring season starts in February and runs through Memorial Day. The fall season starts in late August and runs through late fall.

All challenge players wishing to play in spring Challenge Program must also play for a regular season spring team. Challenge players ages 8-12 who participate in the fall Challenge program do not have to play on a regular season fall team.

Players in all age groups must tryout in order to participate in the Challenge program. As with most elite/Challenge/travel opportunities, not all players will make a team. In some cases, more than one team per age group can be created. The creation of more than one team depends on four factors:

Demand,

Talent,

Pitching and catching depth, and

Availability of qualified coaches.

Further, it is possible that no team is created for a particular age group in a given season because of a deficiency in one or more of the four factors mentioned above. Potential participants will sign-up for the Challenge Program for the spring and/or fall season. Signing up early affords the leadership an opportunity to make the necessary preparations for the season.

Eligible participants for the Challenge Program will include players registered for the regular spring season in the American, National and Major Leagues. Players in the American, National and Major Leagues will be eligible to continue with the Challenge Program in the fall without fall regular season participation.

While tryouts are open to all players, it should be noted that players considering this program should be able to demonstrate above average baseball skills. Moreover, for those players selected to play on a Challenge team, additional costs are associated with this program. Challenge fees are used to pay for tournament registration fees, uniforms and equipment for all age groups.

Time Commitment
Challenge tournaments are typically played over a two or three-day period, beginning on Friday or Saturday and ending on Sunday. Parents should understand very clearly that a Challenge tournament weekend typically consumes the entire weekend.

Playing Time and other information

Each coaching staff will emphasize proper baseball development for each age group through planned practice sessions to ensure player and position development. Each coaching staff will focus on proper fundamentals and is encouraged to apply a fairness standard when allocating playing time for all participants. Fair playing time in a Challenge context is not the same as equal playing time.

There are no minimum play rules in Challenge baseball. Parents who believe that the most important parts of a youth baseball experience are equal playing time and equal opportunities to play a variety of positions should not consider Challenge baseball as an option for their child.

It is also recommended that each team request parent or other volunteers to act as team score keeper for tournaments, team representative to organize team refreshments over the weekend tournaments, and grounds crew to help during “home” tournaments.